Chapter 216
“Grrk?”
“Th… the sand is moving.”
As the Sand Soldiers rushed forward, the orcs wore confused expressions.
The sight of sand moving like humans was simply too bizarre.
They were so dumbfounded that they even forgot to react.
The price for that hesitation was death.
Thud!
Crack!
The fists and knees of the Sand Soldiers slammed into the orcs.
The sheer destructive force—impossible to believe from bodies made of sand—caused the orcs to stagger and collapse.
The Sand Soldiers piled onto the fallen orcs and unleashed merciless violence.
“Kwaeek!”
“Guek!”
The orcs screamed in agony as they were slaughtered.
“The humans are using strange magic!”
“Kill the mage!”
Among them, a few perceptive orcs realized that Zeon was the source of the magic.
Most magic disappeared once the Awakener casting it was killed.
Even the dull-witted orcs knew that.
They immediately set Zeon as their target.
“Kill the human!”
“Grrraaa!”
The orcs charged with savage roars.
But their axes and blades never even scratched Zeon.
Shhhk!
More than a dozen sand serpents burst forth and struck the orcs.
The vipers couldn’t pierce the orcs’ armor-like bodies.
They only managed to make them hesitate for a brief moment.
But that alone was enough.
In that instant, the Sand Soldiers rushed in and attacked.
Bang! Bang!
Relentless violence followed.
The Sand Soldiers were essentially puppets moving according to Zeon’s will.
Unlike human Awakeners, they couldn’t use skills.
All they could do was launch brute-force attacks with their sand-composed bodies.
At first glance, getting hit by sand might not seem painful.
But the Sand Soldiers were different.
Their bodies were compressed at high density—hard as stone.
Thud!
“Gwaaah!”
An orc’s head burst apart, brain matter and blood splattering everywhere.
After twitching for a moment, the orc went still.
Instant death.
The Sand Soldiers moved on, searching for their next victims.
They had no emotions, no fear.
They were killing machines, blindly executing orders.
The Awakeners who witnessed this turned pale.
“He’s controlling sand soldiers…”
“Then is he the rumored Sand Mage?”
They hadn’t heard the earlier conversation between Jang Yongbeom and Zeon, so they didn’t know his identity.
They only assumed he wasn’t an ordinary Awakener, judging by how cautious Jang Yongbeom was around him.
But they had never imagined he was the infamous Sand Mage.
Seeing his power firsthand far exceeded their expectations.
The sand itself became soldiers, crushing the Sand Mage’s enemies.
They felt fortunate that only a few dozen Sand Soldiers were currently active.
If he could control hundreds of these… he’d be an army unto himself.
Still, it seemed he could only manage a few dozen at most.
Moreover, while the Sand Soldiers moved, Zeon himself hadn’t taken a single step.
Of course. Controlling that many summons while moving would be ridiculous.
They thought they had figured out Zeon’s weakness.
His sand manipulation was overwhelmingly powerful—but when controlling Sand Soldiers, he couldn’t move.
That meant he could be attacked from a distance during that time.
Having identified a way to counter him, the Awakeners relaxed slightly.
With the Sand Soldiers relieving the pressure, it was now time to properly eliminate the orcs.
“Die!”
“Take this!”
Shouting battle cries, the Awakeners charged at the orcs.
Meanwhile, Kangkara—locked in fierce combat with Jang Yongbeom—twisted his face in anger.
He had realized that the Steel Orcs were being pushed back by the humans.
“Purrgh! How dare mere humans…!”
“This is the strength of humanity, you filthy pig!”
Jang Yongbeom smirked confidently.
Time was now on his side.
There was no need to rush—he could take his time and win.
Kangkara was undoubtedly strong.
But not to the point of being unbeatable.
With his A-rank abilities, Jang Yongbeom was confident he could defeat him.
Slash!
His claymore cut into Kangkara’s side as his attention wavered.
A huge amount of blood poured out—but Kangkara showed no sign of pain.
Instead, the pain only fueled his rage.
Swinging his massive blade, Kangkara shouted,
“Kraaaah! All of you—spread the Black Wings!”
At his sudden command, Jang Yongbeom and the Awakeners looked puzzled.
Orcs having wings made no sense.
In reality, neither Kangkara nor the other orcs had anything resembling wings.
But the orcs reacted differently.
“Grrraah!”
“Uwaaah!”
They threw their heads back and roared.
At that moment, black patterns appeared on their backs.
They looked like black wings.
Clearly, they were wing-shaped markings.
“That’s supposed to be wings?”
“These pig bastards have gone completely insane.”
The Awakeners mocked them.
But their expressions soon hardened like stone.
The orcs’ fighting spirit suddenly surged several times over.
Their combat power rose just as dramatically.
“Ghk!”
“Keh!”
Awakeners who had been evenly matched were smashed away by the orcs’ attacks.
Only then did they realize—the markings on the orcs’ backs were no ordinary tattoos.
“Shit!”
“It’s a buff mark!”
“The markings have amplified their strength. Everyone, be careful!”
As they suspected, the black wing-shaped tattoos had a buff effect.
In an instant, they drew out latent potential and allowed the orcs to unleash several times their usual combat power.
The name of this absurd ability was the “Berserker Mark.”
Only orc priests could inscribe this overwhelming tattoo.
However, once activated, it left severe aftereffects—rendering the user unable to move for two or three days.
That was why they hadn’t used it until now.
But cornered as they were, they had no time to worry about consequences.
Right now, they had to kill the humans—no matter the cost.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Jang Yongbeom’s face twisted violently under Kangkara’s attack.
His grip on the claymore tore open, and his shoulder bent backward.
The blow far exceeded expectations—ligaments in his shoulder snapping one after another.
It was a miracle the bone hadn’t shattered.
If the strike had been any stronger, his entire shoulder might have been ripped off.
“Damn it!”
Gritting his teeth, Jang Yongbeom retreated.
But Kangkara didn’t let him go.
Despite his massive frame, he closed the distance with terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
The massive blade tore through the air, targeting Jang Yongbeom’s weakened shoulder.
Once they found a weakness, orcs relentlessly exploited it.
“You damn pig bastard…!”
Jang Yongbeom’s face turned savage.
He had always hidden about thirty percent of his true strength.
In this hellish world, the only ones he trusted were himself and his party.
From everyone else, he concealed his full power.
But the orc before him wasn’t an opponent he could defeat while holding back.
To even match him, he had to give everything.
A formidable enemy.
Fwoosh!
Intense flames erupted along the claymore.
The red fire soon wrapped around the blade, solidifying into place.
A clearly defined aura blade.
“Blade of Punishment.”
As Jang Yongbeom swung his claymore with full force, the aura blade shot forward at terrifying speed.
Kangkara, charging at full speed, couldn’t avoid it.
“I’ll smash it!”
Drawing on all his strength, Kangkara swung his greatsword.
The weapon, filled with fighting spirit, collided head-on with the Blade of Punishment.
Kraaaang!
A blinding flash and a massive shockwave exploded outward.
“Ugh!”
“Keh!”
Awakeners and orcs caught in the shockwave lost their balance and were thrown to the ground.
By the time they regained their senses and looked up, the battle between Jang Yongbeom and Kangkara was already decided.
Drip… drip…
Blood flowed from Jang Yongbeom’s shoulder.
His left arm—from the shoulder down—was completely gone.
It had been blown apart like fireworks by Kangkara’s strike.
He barely remained standing, using his claymore like a crutch.
Seeing this, Giselle turned pale and shouted,
“Boss!”
She tried to rush to him, but the orcs blocked her path.
“You damn bastards—Frozen Orb!”
From her staff, a sphere of ice shot forward.
The orb spun violently among the orcs blocking her path, firing countless shards of ice.
Ratatatat!
“Kuaegh!”
“Guek!”
The orcs pierced by the shards collapsed.
Giselle trampled over them and rushed to Jang Yongbeom.
“Are you okay, boss?!”
“I’m not dead, so stop panicking.”
Jang Yongbeom straightened himself and replied coldly.
His face was drenched in blood—he looked as if he could collapse at any moment.
Yet his eyes were colder than ever.
His gaze fixed on Kangkara.
Kangkara stood tall, glaring as if to devour him.
He spoke,
“Human… you are strong.”
Sssrrk—
At that moment, Kangkara’s upper body slid cleanly off his lower half.
Thud!
His torso hit the ground, and a fountain of blood burst from the severed lower body.
That was the end of Kangkara, great warrior of the Steel Orc tribe.
“Cough!”
Only after confirming Kangkara’s death did Jang Yongbeom spit blood and drop to one knee.
His life hung by a thread—he could die at any moment.
“Boss!”
As Giselle panicked, Brielle approached.
“Give him this.”
She handed over a healing potion she had made herself.
Without hesitation, Giselle fed it to Jang Yongbeom.
Moments later, color began to return to his face.
“It’s not a complete recovery, so take care of him.”
“Thanks… kid.”
“My name is Brielle.”
“Right. Brielle.”
Giselle corrected him immediately.
That was how grateful she was.
Realizing Jang Yongbeom had survived, Giselle regained her composure.
“W-what about the other orcs?”
“No need to worry.”
“What?”
“Zeon will take care of them.”
As if entranced, Giselle looked toward Zeon.
He was still standing in the same spot.
Then he spoke,
“Everyone, fall back. As far as you can.”
The Awakeners, who had been fighting fiercely, suddenly felt an indescribable sense of dread.
As if something terrible would happen if they didn’t listen.
“Damn it!”
“Everyone, retreat!”
They pulled back dozens of meters.
The orcs, suddenly losing their opponents, looked confused.
“Grrk?”
As if to answer their confusion, the sand across the area began to writhe.
Zeon issued a command to the sand.
“Sand Mixer!”
Gaaaaang!